Originally Posted by
elle107
There’s a 80-90% chance of rain/thunder/lightening for the next three days and a 50-60% chance the following two days. How do you experienced tourists handle these forecasts?
I’m on my first bike tour and am faced with a five-day long thunderstorm. It started raining two days ago. The first day that it rained, I biked only half the day and payed for a campsite at a park. The next day, the weather cleared enough (including one hour-long storm) for me to cover 60 miles to stay with a Warm Showers host who had to go out of town after my one night. I travelled a few miles from the Warm Showers host to a motel for the day/night, but it’s costing me $75.
While it didn’t end up raining this morning as predicted, it poured with lightening in the evening. I was upset that I missed cycling all day, but beyond relieved that I wasn’t stuck in the afternoon storm. I got caught in the storm yesterday afternoon and felt really unsafe.
I’m touring on a budget, i.e. free camping and Warm Showers. I feel like I’ve failed because I’ve already payed for a night at a campsite and another at a motel. My options are to stay at this motel in an undesirable, but safe location or try to get to a state park nearby where it’s cheaper.
What do you guys do?
-- Hop on a bus or train and go somewhere else.
-- Rent a car and go somewhere else.
-- Stay in indoor accommodation for a few days until the storm passes (we had to do that when we were hit with a massive Atlantic storm on the west coast of France in 2012).
-- Change the format of the tour to a "hub-and-spoke" tour and explore the area during the nice moments.
-- If we've decided to do a "hub-and-spoke" style tour, we might look at other activities ... museums, hikes, swimming, organised tours, etc., etc.
From my experience, it is a good idea to incorporate flexibility into the tour plans.
